


Mists of Memories

by Helsanon



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Disney, Disney Movies, Drama, F/M, Forests, Friendship, Helsa Week (Disney), Iceburns Week (Disney), Movie: Frozen (2013), Nature, Redemption, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26465710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helsanon/pseuds/Helsanon
Summary: Elsa is enjoying some Arendellian nature when heavy mists surround her. Someone comes out from them - but it's not one Elsa ever dreamt of seeing there![Elsa, Hans], Helsa
Relationships: Elsa & Hans (Disney), Elsa/Hans (Disney)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: ❄❄❄





	Mists of Memories

\--- This story happens after the events of Frozen 2 ---

**Mists of Memories**

Elsa was at the edge of a forest a few kilometers from the town of Arendelle, enjoying nature. She was particularly interested in the blooming flowers – it was early spring and the snow-covered land was slowly melting, allowing the flora to embellish the scene with vibrant colors and aromatic fragrances while the fauna showered the land with beautiful singing and fluffy animals. Each blossom she touched and smelled gave her a new experience – more so as she now was the Fifth Spirit, the chief among the elemental spirits of the Enchanted Forest somewhere to the north. After some adventures with her sister, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven among the Northuldra, Elsa abdicated her throne in favor of Anna to live among the native population and the other spirits.

As the Fifth Spirit, Elsa considered her job to watch over the nature aspects of Arendelle: she traveled far and wide, tending to fauna and flora alike to keep it balanced and in harmony with the human residents of the land – be they Northuldra or Arendellians. She didn’t interact with foreign dignitaries or personnel, though; that was a job for Anna and her ministers, not the Fifth Spirit. She sometimes met with Kristoff and Sven in their ice expeditions and Olaf visited her once a month. Anna was generally too busy to leave the town, but Elsa tried to visit her as much as possible. Although Elsa was quite close to the town at that moment, it wasn’t the time for her to visit it and she only watched the capital from afar, imagining what her sister was doing right now. ‘ _Perhaps bored with another foreign visitor asking for a new trade deal’_ , she thought with a smile. As she has been a queen herself, Elsa knew the tribulations Anna would have to suffer in such a role; regardless, she also knew her younger sister was mature enough to deal with those situations and resumed her tending to the flowers.

It was close to five o’clock of the afternoon when the former queen noticed something was amiss… a heavy mist came from the ocean and covered her view from not only the town but also the coastline; she could only see the forest. Waving the mist aside didn’t help, as it was quite thick. Elsa prepared to cast a spell with the intent of clearing the fog when something drew her attention: an outline of a human being inside the mist, walking towards her. The form marched at a slow pace and it was covered with what seemed to be a blanket. At first, Elsa thought it was Kristoff; yet, she noted the form was slender than her brother-in-law. Squinting her eyes, the form became a bit more defined. ‘A royal guard, possibly? Why one of them would come alone here?’ she thought, puzzled by the circumstances. Was Anna in dire straits and required her help? Kristoff or Olaf would come to her, not a royal guard. Unless… the figure wasn’t a royal guard _at all_! With that in mind, she hid behind an oak tree and kept watching the form. Its stride wasn’t uniform like a royal guard, so Elsa finally dropped that possibility from her mind; a shipwrecked person or a wanderer, more likely. Slowly, the person left the mist; who came out of it wasn’t someone Elsa could have expected in any way.

The person had fiery and short red hair and beard, fair skin, simple (and pretty damp) clothes, and a heavy blanket around him; he also had worn black boots. Each step of that man was slow and ponderous as if he was walking in shallow waters. Although Elsa didn’t recognize the individual at first when he raised his head and looked at the forest his green eyes gave his identity to her. ‘ _H-Hans?!?_ ’ she thought, alarmed by the presence of such a man there. ‘ _What is he doing here? And why?_ ’

Hans, leaving the mists, checked his surroundings, and not seeing anything dangerous walked towards the forest edge. He had a wary expression as if he was expecting something to jump from an unseen angle and attack him. Each step of his made Elsa’s heart pounds faster and faster while her brain raced through many ideas on what to do. She gathered her strength and decided to make herself shown when he knelt to grab some berries in a bush.

“Hans! What are you doing here? Explain yourself at once!” her expression was deadly serious.

The redhead prince jumped in one move, startled by the order. He finally saw Elsa and was confused, since he thought no one would be around those parts and also didn’t recognize her.

“Who are you and how do you know my name?” he pointed out with his right hand at her, frowning at the stranger.

It was Elsa’s turn to be perplexed, as she was used to everyone living or visiting Arendelle knowing who she was. Clearly, she changed a lot in these last years to the point Hans couldn’t figure out that.

“You don’t recognize me?”

“I have no recollection of who you are. Are you an apothecary, collecting herbs in the forest?”

Elsa smiled a bit with such a suggestion. “Perhaps this will make you remember.”

She barely moved her arms and a few snowflakes flew from her left hand and harmlessly hit Hans on his chest. He was bewildered for some seconds until realization struck him. His mouth was wide open.

“Elsa? Is that you?”

“Yes. And I do the questioning here… _trespasser_.”

With another movement of her arms and hands, a ring of frost encircled Hans, and icy tendrils sprouted from it, encasing Hans in an ice cage. She had a triumphant expression in her face. He was scared by her magic but, as the magic ended, he recomposed himself.

“Elsa, what are you doing? Release me!”

“No. You were exiled from Arendelle, _Prince Hans of the Southern Isles_ , and for some insane reason decided to return.” The tone she used to say his name and title wasn’t amicable. “You should tell me why you’re here – and soon.”

Hans grabbed the cold bars and brought his face closer to them. “It’s a long story, _Queen Elsa of Arendelle_. I could tell you all of it over some hot tea and close to a fireplace, though. What do you say?” His face had a grinning smile, as part of his charm to make Elsa less hostile. He quickly noticed it didn’t work, as she approached him with a frown.

“I am queen no more, Hans; Anna is. You’re avoiding my questions, and I don’t like that.”

With a few incantations, the tendrils connect themselves horizontally, reducing Hans’ field view by a lot; he felt as if it was encasing him in an icy tomb.

Releasing his hands from the bars, he looked straight at her eyes – this time, there was no second intentions in his expression.

“And I am prince no more, Elsa. After I paid my sentence, I was stripped of my titles and disinherited by my father. I have nothing.”

“And how is that my problem? Or Anna’s? Or Arendelle’s?” she scoffed, crossing her arms under her breasts.

“Before coming to your coronation, I was sent to many other courts and made many acquaintances. However, each one of them denied support to me after I returned.”

“As you deserved, monster. You tried to kill me after leaving Anna for dead!” Elsa scolded him, clearly exasperated by the conversation.

Hans rolled his eyes at the insults and accusations. He could argue with her about his actions, but it seemed nothing he said on the matter would change Elsa’s opinion of him.

“You know very well why I’ve done those things. And I’ve already paid for them.”

“Hans, you know I could simply deliver you to Anna to do away with you as she seems fit, right?”

“It would be an interesting event – had not I tried that first.”

Elsa’s eyes went wide open at the revelation that Hans even tried to talk to Anna. She threw an icy airwave at Hans, freezing the outskirts of his blanket and hair. He closed his eyes and endured it as magnanimously as possible.

“YOU DARED TO GO AFTER HER? After all you did here?”

“As I’ve said: I tried. I came here on a ship at noon and asked her agent in the harbor for an audience with her. He left and returned with a big guy that looked at me with fury in his eyes. I believe he shouted something like “ **GO AWAY!** ”, grabbed me and threw me in the water! The nerve of that buffoon!”

After saying that, Hans' body started to shiver more and he wrapped his arms over his legs, trying to get warmer. Elsa, picturing what he said to her, burst in laughter.

“It was Kristoff, wasn’t it? Hahaha!” She wiped some tears of joy from her cheeks. “Serves you well. What did you have in your mind to come back and ask for an… audience with the queen?”

At Elsa’s reaction and question, Hans didn’t have a really good answer. He had a sad expression in his face. He adjusted his blanket a bit.

“I… I have nowhere else to go. All courts in Europe know of my wrongdoings here and closed their doors to me. I’ve tried to live the life of a simple man, but stories travel far and wide and even the normal populace grew to despise me.”

“I’m sure that’s quite the sad story, Hans. Again, I fail to see why coming here ever crossed your mind.” Elsa was more inquisitive than hostile after the funny Kristoff moment.

“Because you are better people than I am.”

That was one answer Elsa didn’t foresee. Normally, it would sound like some kind of flattery or even manipulation, coming from Hans. Things looked a bit different now, though – it has been more than three years since her coronation and he didn’t look like someone with any real possessions.

“What do you expect to get from that, Hans? My forgiveness? Anna’s?”

“I don’t believe you two will ever do that, Your Highness; that much is true.” Hans slowly rose, looking Elsa eye to eye. “What I had in mind was to help Arendelle in any way I could, since I’ve done it before during a _certain_ _snow_ crisis.”

At the mention of the uncontrolled winter she caused in the past, Elsa’s expression changed from indifference to surprise and she quickly averted her eyes. Hans’, on the other hand, went from sadness to hopeful – he regained the argument.

“Yes, you did help the townsfolk back then. However, why you did it is clear not only to me and Anna but to all Arendelle. The people here would reject you as the others did.” She let her arms fall alongside her body. “What could you even do for Arendelle?”

“I know my way with people, Elsa. I could work as a mediator between – “

“ _’I know my way with people'_ ” Elsa repeated, in a scornful tone; Hans noticed it was a poor choice of words for him. “Hans, that’s EXACTLY why people don’t want you near them: they see you as a manipulative power-grabber that will go any lengths to get what you want.” Elsa turned her back to him, looking at the forest, while Hans started to see his predicament was basically hopeless.

“I see. It seems it would be better for everyone if I simply vanished from this world.” He again wrapped his arms over his legs and started to lightly rock front and back, whispering a lullaby to himself. Elsa looked back and, for the first time since the events years ago, felt a sliver of pity towards Hans.

“Hans, I didn’t mean that. But I can’t let you hurt Anna agai- “

Her speech was cut short by something on the horizon: a smaller form also crossed the mists and arrived at the scene. It smiled at Elsa but blinked in confusion towards Hans.

“Hi, Olaf! What are you doing here?” Elsa’s face brightened in a smile.

“Hello, Elsa! Kristoff asked me to keep an eye on the newcomer.” The snowman pointed at Hans. “He told me this one is called Hans. Is he… _that_ Hans?”

“Yes, he is.” Elsa’s expression became angrier when she looked back at the redhead. Hans finally noticed Olaf and was astonished by the fact a talking snowman existed.

“W-What is that?!? A living snowman?”

“I was created by Elsa when she ran away from the coronation.” Olaf explained. “And she used her magic to give me life!” That said, Olaf started to dance a little, as if being alive was good enough for him.

Hans looked at Elsa with disbelief. “You can create life? I remember the big snow monster at the entrance of the castle, but this… _Olaf_ seems not only way more friendly, as also a lot more permanent.”

“Marshmallow is no monster!” Elsa retorted at Hans. “I created him to keep Anna away from me in the castle. It’s a memory I don’t relish…” Elsa put her right hand on her left arm and looked away in shame. Olaf noticed that and ran to her side, grabbing her left hand.

“It’s okay, Elsa! The past is in the past. We should enjoy the spring – and the upcoming summer!”

“You’re right, Olaf, as usual!” Elsa reacted to Olaf's words with happiness. “What do you think we should do to him?” She pointed at Hans.

“Hmm… he’s quite the fixer-upper, isn’t he?” Olaf approached Hans and scratched his snowy chin. “What does he want here, anyway?”

“He wants a second chance, it seems. To serve Arendelle, because no one else wants anything with him.”

Olaf, hearing those words, became sad. “Whoa… _no one_? Mr. Hans, you don’t have anyone to give you a warm hug?”

Hans was surprised by such an innocent question (and it coming from a snowman, of all creatures!) and knelt on his 2 shoulders, resting his hands on his lap and looking down in sadness.

“Well, I still have my mother and my second-to-youngest brother. But they’re very far away and I have no way to contact them. As I’ve told your… uh, mother, I’m all alone.” A single tear left his right eye and fell on the snow; Hans was taken aback by that – he learned that showing true emotions was a weakness. He quickly wiped the tear trail on his face.

Olaf looked at Elsa, with a sad expression. “Can I give him a warm hug, Elsa?”

Elsa, much more experienced in dealing with people than Olaf, gave him a daring look. “He could very well be lying, Olaf. Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Well, first: he’s sad and I don’t want people to be sad! Second, I am made of snow! He can’t really hurt me, can he?” Olaf stared at Hans with a wily smile and jokingly elbowed the ice bars.

Hans finally noticed the bond between Elsa and the snowman and how strong it was. ‘ _So, that’s what having a true friend really is_.’, he thought to himself. A new feeling filled Hans’ spirit: friendship. He felt strangely friendly towards the snowman – the only being to not judge him by what he did in the past, even knowing what transpired back then. After all, was Hans not so lost as he thought he was?

Reluctantly, Elsa dismantled the ice bars and ring around Hans, freeing him. She kept some distance from him but did not ease her posture. Hans started to get up, but noticed the snowman really wanted to hug him; the red-haired man opened his arms and prepared himself to suffer the cold embrace of the snowman.

To his shock, Olaf in fact was _warm_! And not only warm but a welcoming warm feeling washed over Hans, as it was cleansing him from all the grime and dirt not only from his body and clothes but also his soul and mind. It was a feeling he didn’t have since the last hug he gave his mother, years ago. Olaf was radiant with this possible new friend, while Hans didn’t even move – afraid the moment could go away and end anytime soon. After a minute like that, Olaf broke the embrace and put his hands on Hans’ shoulders, looking at him deadly serious.

“You’re still a big fixer-upper, Mr. Hans. We have a lot of work to do with you!”

“We?” said Elsa, already suspicious of the snowman’s plans.

“Of course! You, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and I will have to work together to make him a nice person again!” Right after saying that, Olaf becomes a bit pensive and looks at Hans. “You’ve been nice before, haven’t you?”

“Hey, I wasn’t born… _malicious_.” Hans looks at Elsa. “No one does. Much like Elsa, I am a result of choices made by others. It was unfortunate that some of my own proper decisions weren’t the best ones.”

Elsa closed the distance to Hans and extended her right hand to him. “If Olaf can see some good in you, Hans, perhaps we can work something out.” Hans reached her hand, standing up with her help. She threw at him a very deadly gaze. “No more lies, manipulation, or using others, Hans. Can you do that? Not for me, Anna, Olaf, or Arendelle – but for yourself?”

Hans sternly met her gaze. He could see she’s battling herself about even considering being nearby him and that she’s not joking around. He also felt he could simply go away from there and try his luck somewhere less _demanding_ – but, deep down, he also knew this might be his last chance in life to amount to something.

“I can try, Your Highness. And friend.” He courtly bowed to both Elsa and Olaf.

Elsa looked at Olaf and an idea came to her mind. “Olaf, Hans wanted power. But we all know power should come with responsibility. What about we trust him with a pet? If he can take care of an animal entrusted to him, it could be a good first step.”

Olaf couldn’t contain his excitement at that proposal. “A pet? Yes! What kind of pet do you think he likes the most?”

“Well, I had a horse named Si- “

“Hmm. I think a vulture would match well with him, but let’s go with a… cat.” Elsa smiled at Hans, barely holding her laughter.


End file.
